The subject matter of this patent application constitutes an improvement over the subject matter disclosed and claimed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/355,360 filed May 23, 1989 now abandoned, titled Fluid Shielded Movable Strut for Missile and Rocket Thrust Vector Control, filed in the name of co-inventor Robert Cavalleri of this patent application. The entirety of the specification, claims and drawings of the above-mentioned co-pending United States patent application are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
The above-mentioned patent application discloses a strut assembly which may be selectively projected and retracted with respect to the associated structure of a solid or liquid propellant rocket or missile, with the structure to which the strut is attached comprising one of the nozzle thereof or the body thereof. The strut disclosed in the co-pending United States patent application is disclosed as being projectable either internally of the nozzle or externally of the body as desired. The actuator consists of a piston slidably mounted in a cylinder and carrying the inventive strut. Hydraulic fluid is supplied to the cylinder via a four port reversing valve which controls extension and retraction of the strut. Separate coolant supply is provided from a separate coolant reservoir from which coolant is supplied to the strut through the piston, piston rod and through an internal passageway and chamber within the strut itself.
Subsequent to the invention of the strut disclosed in the above-mentioned co-pending United States patent application, Applicants discovered that it might be advantageous to combine the coolant supply and strut control aspects into a single integrated structure. Such an invention is advantageous over the prior strut device disclosed in the co-pending patent application since the improved structure saves weight and complication.
In particular, combining the strut actuator and coolant supply into a single apparatus eliminates the need for a separate coolant reservoir, a separate coolant pump, a separate coolant supply control valve and separate flow passageways to supply the coolant to the strut. Since it is extremely vital and important to save as much weight as possible in a rocket or missile, the savings in weight by elimination of these components is extremely significant.